Biden Does Big Labor’s Bidding in Mexico
Donald Trump plans to visit Detroit this week. He’s looking for support from members of the United Auto Workers, and President Biden’s re-election team is sweating about it. Mr.
Biden needs Big Labor. But UAW President Shawn Fain has warned the president that he has to “earn" his members’ support. Politico reported last week that the union “is withholding its endorsement from Biden over his handling of electric vehicle subsidies." Mr.
Biden may be in a bind with auto workers. But elsewhere, in a matter less visible to the American public, he’s going to great lengths to do union bidding. His weapon of choice is Mr.
Trump’s U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA. The USMCA’s labor chapter includes a tool to punish a production facility that denies workers the right to collective bargaining or free association. Under this “rapid response labor mechanism," output of the specific plant where the violation is deemed to have occurred can be subject to sanctions by trading partners.
Katherine Tai was trade counsel for Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee when Mr. Trump was trying to get the USMCA through Congress. Now she’s the U.S.
trade representative, or USTR for short. Along with her predecessor, Bob Lighthizer, she played a key role in developing the problematic rule. It isn’t clear that right-to-work states in the U.S.
could pass its tests, and European companies operating in Mexico aren’t subject to it. Thanks go to Ms. Tai for demonstrating that the rule is also easy to abuse for political gain.
The USTR’s office has filed more than 10 complaints against Mexico using this novel labor mechanism. Most have been remediated through company concessions. But in August Ms.
Read more on livemint.com
